Oscillating wiping machine



Jan. 19,; N37.

c. D. GALLOWAY 2,068,601

OSCILLATING WIPING MACHINE Filed July 14, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 mar/$1764 z/mz WM fgw Jan. 19, 1937.

c. D. GALLOWAY OSCILLATING WIPING MACHINE Filed July 14, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 wa y W11 Patented Jan. 19, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE OSCILLATING WIPING MACHINE Application July 14, 1934, Serial No. 735,114

8 Claims.

The object of my invention is to provide, in a machine for wiping the freshly-pasted plates intended for use in storage batteries, an oscillating wiper section. This wiper section consists of a plurality of wiper blades preferably but not necessarily at angles to said plates in the horizontal and in the vertical plane, and means for causing the wiper blades to oscillate transversely of the plates, whereby paste on the surfaces of the plates is given a smooth finish, and is uniformly packed into the metallic grids which form the supports for the pasted material.

Other features of my invention will be readily apparent from that embodiment of my invention disclosed in the annexed drawings and specification at the end whereof the novel features of my device will be pointed out and claimed.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary top plan view.

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-section on line 22 of Fig. 1 on an increased scale.

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section on line 33 of Fig. 1 on a still further increased scale.

In that embodiment of my invention chosen for illustration in the drawings and the description in the specification, and of which many modifications will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, my device is shown as consisting of a pair of rails 5, which form a part of the pasting and drying machines similar to those now in use. On rails 5 are mounted conveyor chains 6, which have projections 'l upstanding therefrom at suitable intervals to engage the lugs L of the plates P, which are indicated in dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings.

As is best seen in Fig. 2, the wiper section is provided with a frame or support 8, which is separated from the rails 5 so that the oscillations of the wiper section are not transmitted to the other parts of the machine. Intermediate the rails 5, there is provided a center rail 9, which has, at intervals, openings therein, as seen in Fig. 3. In openings ID are mounted the wiper blades II, which consist of thin strips of metal mounted as here shown with their transverse cross-sections at an angle in the vertical plane, and with their respective edges, which operate on the plates, mounted at an angle in the horizontal plane to the rails and to the plates P on the rails. This angular mounting is not, however, essential.

Blades II are mounted on transverse supports [2 by means of bolts l3, or other convenient means, located in slots I4 in supports l2. Supports I2 are mounted in bearings l5, so that the supports l2 and the blades carried thereby are free to reciprocate transversely of the rails 5 and of the plates P thereon.

Reciprocating movement in opposite directions is imparted to the blades II and to the supports 112 by means of connecting rods l6, which are pivotally connected to supports [2 at one end by means of Wrist-pins ll and yokes l8, which have tongue-and-groove connections I9 with supports 12. At their opposite ends, the connecting rods l6 are formed in straps 20, which surround eccentrics 2i mounted on shaft 22 which is driven from any suitable source of power.

Frame 8 carries a large pan 23 detachably mounted below the plates, so as to receive any excess paste falling from the plates.

The operation of my machine is believed to be obvious. Freshly pasted plates enter the machine in the direction indicated by the arrow A in Fig. 1, The grids of the plates are filled with the soft, moist paste which has been filled into the openings of the metal grids which form the supports of the plates. The faces of the plates have been roughly finished. The plates are provided in twins having lugs L projecting from each end. The plates P are mounted closely adjacent each other with a minimum of space between them. l-Ieretofore, this has been impossible in a finishing machine of this type, because the spaces between the adjacent bars of the grids of the plates are much shorter in the dimension of the axes of the lugs than in the transverse dimension, and because solid bars, or dams, extend across the grids transversely, so that there was a tendency for the wiper blades to draw the freshly-pasted paste away from the back of each bar, and to compress it against the front of each on-coming bar.

In my machine, these difficulties are avoided by means of the reciprocating wipers, which smooth or slick the paste on each face, at the same time distributing the past uniformly in all the openings of the grids. By forming the plates with their edges in close proximity, I am enabled to greatly increase the capacity of a machine at the same speed, and to avoid the waste or rehandling of paste which was filled into the spaces between the lugs in the prior machines, in which the plates were pasted with the lugs opposite each other, and with spaces between the lugs.

I do not intend to be limited save as the scope of the prior art and of the attached claims may require.

I claim:

1. An oscillating wiping machine for storage battery plates comprising, conveying means for moving a plurality of storage battery plates, a Wiper blade separated from said conveying means so that oscillations of said wiper blade are not transmitted to said conveying means, said wiper blade being adapted to contact with the surface of the plates, and mechanism for reciprocating said wiping blade transversely of the travel of the plates on said conveying means.

2. An oscillating wiping machine for storage battery plates comprising,in combination, conveying means for moving a plurality of storage battery plates, two wiper blades mounted one above and one below said conveying means, and mechanism for reciprocating said wiper blades in a straight line transversely of the travel of said plates.

3. An oscillating wiping machine for storage battery plates comprising, in combination, conveying means for a plurality of storage battery plates, two wiper blades mounted one above and one below said conveying means, and mechanism for reciprocating simultaneously in opposite directions said wiper blades transversely of the travel of said plates.

4. An oscillating wiping machine for storage battery twin plates comprising, in combination, a pair of rails adapted to support the plate lugs, a third intermediate rail adapted to support the twin plates at the center and having an opening in its upper edge, conveyors continuously moving the twin plates on the rails, two wiper blades mounted independently of said rails, one above and one below the plates, whereof the lower one is located in the opening in the intermediate rail, and mechanism for reciprocating said wiper blades transversely of the travel of said plates.

5. An oscillating wiping machine for storage battery plates comprising, a pair of conveying means mounted adjacent each other so as to convey storage battery plates thereon without contacting with the pasted surfaces of said plates, supports separated from said conveying means so that oscillations from said supports are not transmitted to said conveying means, said supports being adjacent said conveying means and having slots therein, a wiper blade on each of said supports, connecting means extending through said slots in said supports and connecting said blades to said supports so as to provide for adjustment of each blade relative to its support, and mechanism for reciprocating said supports and the Wiper blades carried thereby transversely of the travel of the plates on said conveying means and without vibrating said conveying means.

6. An oscillating wiping machine for storage battery plates comprising, a frame, a pair of conveying means extending through said frame for conveying storage battery plates on said convey-' ing means without said conveying means contacting with the pasted surfaces of said plates, a wiper blade mounted on said frame and adapted to contact with a pasted surface of each of said plates, mechanism for reciprocating said wiper blade transversely of the travel of the plates on said conveying means without transmitting the vibrations of said mechanism or said blade to said plates or the conveying means carrying them, and a pan detachably carried by said frame beneath said plates so as to receive any excess paste falling from said plates.

7. In an oscillating machine for Wiping freshly-pasted storage battery plates, a combination comprising, a pair of conveying means for conveying freshly-pasted storage battery plates close to each other with the lugs of the plates extending transversely to the direction of travel of the plates and Without said conveying means contacting with the pasted surfaces of the plates,

two wiper blades mounted one above and one below said conveying means so that the projecting edges of said blades contact with the plates on said conveying means, and mechanism for simultaneously reciprocating said blades transversely of the travel of the plates and in opposite directions to each other.

8. An oscillating wiping device for a storage battery pasting machine comprising in combination, conveying means for moving a plurality of storage battery plates, two wiper blades mounted one above and one below said conveying means and inclined at a vertical trailing angle with respect to the path and direction of travel, and mechanism for reciprocating simultaneously in opposite directions said wiper blades transversely of the travel of said plates.

CHARLES D. GALLOWAY. 

